Slipped Away
by estrelita
Summary: DH SPOILERS!The battles have been fought and the war has been won. But as happiness should fill the air at Voldemort's defeat, it is sufficated as the grieving process begins. How will they over come such tragedy? This is a reflection of their thoughts.AU


**WARNING:** Deathly Hallows Spoliers! . . .you have been warned.

**After reading the seventh book (which was terribly sad, yet an amazing piece of writing), I just had to write this. I hope you all enjoy it. And please review and let me know what you think. This isn't so much as a story as it is a look at everyone's thoughts and feelings. It is AU, because in the book Harry didn't die, but in this I had him die as well. As much as I love Harry, it just seem to fit as I wrote this. I hope you enjoy**

**Disclaimer:** I do not own any of these amazing characters. They are the creative work of JKR.

* * *

**Artist:**Avril Lavigne 

The Great Hall was large and vast. And despite how many people would be coming, it felt extremely empty. The four long house tables had been replaced by hundreds of single, golden chairs. They all faced forward toward the stage- like platform where the teachers usually sat. The normally sparkling enchanted ceiling was a sad hue of blues. The sky was cloudless and hardly reflected the mood of the people strolling around the damaged castle.

Upon the platform lay four marble coffins.

A banner strewn across the platform read: IN LOVING MEMORY OF FOUR EXTRAORDINARY PEOPLE. Pictures also accompanied the tombs that sat so quietly and motionless. Despite the feel of that afternoon, the pictures smiled and danced before everyone- smiles on the faces of people who would no longer be part of the living.

The sound of foot steps echoed through out the Great Hall as the first person stepped in.

Ginny Weasley slowly walked up to the platform and stood over the first coffin, tears streaming from her cheeks. She placed a shaking hand on top of the marble and closed her eyes. _Why Fred?_ she asked. _What had he done to deserve this?_

She looked around at the pictures: Fred when he was a new born, with his twin brother, in his father and mothers arms; Fred and George climbing a tree and waving at the camera; Fred beaming up at the camera as he messed with Ron who was only a year old; pictures of family vacations; Fred holding a new born Ginny Weasley.

So consumed with her memories, Ginny hadn't released someone had come up and was now standing beside her. The person took her hand and squeezed it tightly. "I miss him, too."

Ginny looked up at her brother George through glossy eyes. "He's really gone, isn't her?"

George considered the question for a moment, and then replied, "No." He took in a deep breath and continued, "Every time one of us makes a joke, or someone laughs, it'll be Fred. He'll live on through our laughter and joy-" His voice trailed off as tears swam in his eyes.

"George, Mum wants you." Ron's voice echoed through the Hall. "She's down by the lake with dad. She really wants to talk to you."

With one last hug from Ginny, both Ron and George strolled out of the Hall. Ginny was left alone and she continued to glance around at the rest of the pictures of the people who passed on. A picture of Lupin when he was in school with James and Sirius smiled back at her; there was a picture of Lupin and Harry; Lupin with the Order; and between his coffin and the next one, stood a beautiful portrait of him and Tonks on their wedding day. Tonks's hair was a deep purple and hung in curls down her shoulders and she seemed happier than she could have ever been. Lupin seemed younger and more lively. There were also a few pictures of them taken with the short amount of time they had with their new born son, Teddy.

Ginny found it extremely hard to walk up to the next coffin. But she could see the many pictures that represented the life of a hero, her friend, and the one person she had ever loved. All the pictures seemed so happy: pictures from the World Cup smiled at her; pictures of Harry, Ron, and Hermione beamed; Christmas pictures twinkled; a baby hair zoomed around on a toy broom stick; his parents danced around smiling as snow fell around their feet.

Ginny could no longer hold it in and she let the sobs pour out of her. She let the feeling of true grieving finally take over her body. And she let her heart ache for her brother, for Remus, Tonks, and now Harry. Her sobs reverberated thunderously through out the Hall. She couldn't get the image of Hagrid carrying Harry's limp body back from the forest.

It was true, while Harry did kill Voldemort, he did it at a great cost: his own life. The Dark Lord was gone, but so was the man she loved.

- - - -

The grounds out side the window seemed so peaceful after the war that had taken place just a few days ago. And to think, that people in other countries continued on with their day to day life, with no realization of what had taken place here at Hogwarts.

Looking out the window from the Gryffindor common room out towards Hargrid's house used to be done by all three of them. And now it was reserved for only the memories she held in her mind. The many times they snuck out underneath his invisibility cloak. The many times they sat out in the grounds going of plans and ideas of what was going on around them.

Hermione Granger slowly placed a hand on the window pane and bit down on her lip. Was this really how it was supposed to end? All those years of narrowly escaping death-all that had just led up to this fateful ending? Was this really destiny?

Tears glided gracefully down her face. She missed Harry terribly. She missed all of them: Lupin, Tonks, and Fred. Could it possibly get better now? Would she ever feel happy again?

Ron slid his arm around her and whispered in her ear, "I miss all of them, too, Mione." He rubbed her arm, "But I know Fred would want us to be happy, and I know Harry would have been proud to defeat V-Voldemort." He shuddered at the name. "He would want us to enjoy the freedom and safety he gave to us."

"I know," Hermione whispered back. "I'll never forget how much he cared about us. How he always had to make sure everyone around him was safe. I just wish we could have done the same for him."

"Hermione, he's happier now. He's with his mum and dad, and Sirius. With Lupin and everyone else. He now knows we'll all be safe. I bet Fred is telling them all a joke and making them laugh right about now," he added, with a slight smile.

Hermione rested her head on Ron's shoulder and sighed.

One of her best friends was dead. And he died fighting to keep them all safe.

_I miss you_

_I miss you so bad_

_I don't forget you_

_Oh, it's so sad_

Salty tears ran down her face and she whispered over and over again in her head: _My baby, my baby. Why is my baby gone? Please give him back_

The memory of watching them carrying his body into the Great Hall was imprinted on her mind. Every time she closed her eyes, she saw his lifeless form. His eyes starring transfixed into the unknown. They way his hair fell softly over his forehead. The way he looked so much like his twin brother. His laughter sounded through her mind every moment or so.

Molly Weasley sat on a rock by the edge of the lake, mopping her eyes with a handkerchief Arthur hand given her. She placed a hand on George's cheek. "I love you Georgie," she murmured, bringing him in for a hug.

"I love you, too, Mum."

George stood up and hugged his father. "I'm going to go check on Ginny again." And he walked away.

"Arthur?" she asked.

"Yes, dear?"

"I miss him so much," and Molly broke out in more tears.

Her husband brought her into his arms, tears swarming in his eyes as well. "I know, we all do."

"He was just a boy! Barely of age. He hadn't gotten a chance to really live."

"Yes, he did, Molly. He was a very extraordinary man. He gave the gift of laughter to so many people. He loved the life he lived."

Molly continued to sob as she spoke. "I hope you knew how proud of him I was. I was always so hard on the twins. I hope he knew how much I loved him."

_I hope you can hear me_

_I remember it clearly_

The air around the surrounding castle was hollow and cold. Mourners stood alone or in pairs. No one really wanted to talk to one another. They were all wrapped inside their own grief, inside their own thoughts. Some where in the distance came the lonely Phoenix song that rang through the solemn grounds. More and more people were arriving to pay tribute to the fallen warriors who shed their blood to defend the ones they loved.

Ginny sat in the front row of chairs, staring , but not really seeing, the coffins before her. Her mind slipped into a kind of coma that played memories before her mind's eye, as if watching a movie. She was five years old again, riding on Fred's back as he ran through the fields and hills around the Burrow. She was six and sitting on Fred's broom for the first time, he was warning her no to fly to high up. She was seven and unwrapping Christmas gifts while her twin, older brothers, were spilling things in the kitchen and her mother shouted for them not to help her with Christmas breakfast ever again. A faint smile graced her lips.

Home would never be the same without Fred.

She was ten again, standing on the platform between nine and teen, watching her brothers run through the barrier. That's when she first laid eyes on Harry Potter. She was eleven, running down the stairs to ask her mum for her jumper, when she saw Harry sitting _her_ house, eating breakfast with _her_ family. She was fifteen, running towards Harry in the common room after they won the Quidditch Cup. She was happy, and she was kissing Harry Potter.

Her life wouldn't be the same without Harry.

- - - -

George stood at the entrance of the Great Hall. His eyes lingered on a picture of himself and his twin brother at Christmas when they were five.

That night, he knew when it happened. He hadn't been near Fred. But at the moment it happened, he felt a part of himself die. Part of himself would never be the same. After all, they were apart of each other, weren't they? They were identical twins. _Identical_.

He would never forget sitting over his brother, wishing it was another one of his versions of a joke. Kind of like when he joked around when he himself got his ear blown off. But he knew deep down that not even Fred would push it this far.

- - - -

All Hermione could think about was everyday they spent together. Whether they were arguing or not. She remembered the first time she saw Harry and Ron on the Hogwarts express. She was glad she wasn't at school anymore, because it just wouldn't be the same anymore without Harry.

She kept thinking about Teddy Lupin. His parents and now his Godfather were also gone. He had no one left in the world. She wondered ho would now take care of him. But she also let a small smile streak across her face. _Teddy will be the last. The last orphan in this war._

_The day you slipped away_

_Was they day I found it wont be the same_

_oh_

The hundreds of golden seats in the Great Hall were now filled with people who had tears leaking from their eyes. People crowded into the aisles and in the back of the Hall, and even in the entrance to the Hall. Fawkes' song of mourning sang to all of them as they sat in silence. As the song died away, all that could be heard were the sniffles of the grieving people, and then the sound of foot steps as Professor McGonagall made her way to the raised platform.

"We are here today to pay our respects to three extraordinary wizards and one very astonishing witch-" Ginny blocked out the rest of what was said. She was only aware of her own heavy breathing, and her own feelings of sadness. She did not need someone else to tell her who her brother was. She lived with him all her life. She didn't need to explain everything Harry went through, and how brave he was, she had witnessed it first hand.

Her thoughts drifted back to Harry's birthday. That was the last time he had held her, the last time he had kissed her, the last time he let her know he still cared. Had he been thinking about her everyday he was gone like she thought of him? Did he know she still loved him, no matter what happened? Did he still love her?

She hadn't got the chance to confess how much she loved him How she felt complete when he held her. She didn't get to give him one last kiss.

Ginny wanted to see him again, wanted to touch his hand and feel the warmth that always made her feel so safe. She wanted to tell him everything she hadn't said to him before the war started. But even she knew that it was impossible for her to turn back time. This was the way it was supposed to be.

As tears slid out of her eyes and plunged off the tip of her nose, Hermione took her hand.

"He has always loved you," Hermione whispered. "I could tell he was thinking of you all the time when we were gone. He was always hoping you were safe."

Ginny refused to look Hermione in the eyes. It was just too painful. Instead she looked down at the row of people who sat beside her, mourning the people they loved so much.

Her mother cried softly into her father's shoulder; Bill was expressionless, but had tears forming in his eyes as Fleur silently wept beside him; Charlie patted Percy's back; tears running dowon both their faces; George looked down into his lap.

"I wish you were here, Harry," Ginny whispered under her breath.

_I didn't get around to kiss you_

_Good-bye on the hand_

_I wish that I could see you again_

_I know that I can't_

_"Fred! What did I tell you about using magic outside of school?!" she shouted._

_"Mum, I'm not Fred."_

_"Oh sorry, George, be a dear and bring me your brother," she said in a much nicer tone of voice._

_"I'm only joking, I really am Fred!" laughed a twelve--year--old Fred Weasley. "Honestly, and you call yourself our mother. You'd think you would have gotten us straight by now."_

_Molly Weasley groaned in frustration._

- - - -

_"Three O.W.L's each!" she screamed. "That's all? Do you even _remember_ how many Percy got?"_

_"Yea, but we're not Percy, Mum, if you haven't noticed__" George said._

_"Yeah, and Percy's the worlds __biggest git."_

- - - -

Molly was pulled out of her memories and and whispered frantically to Arthur, "I always yelled at him. I never . . .got t-to say I w-was . . .s-sorry."

Arthur kissed his wife's forehead. "He knew you loved him."

- - - -

Ron wiped his eyes with the back of his sleeve, while Hermione cried into his shoulder.

How could he ever laugh at another joke without thinking of Fred? How could he smile again without feeling guilty that his brother, who always made people smile, could no longer smile?

Ron thought of his sister. How could Harry have been taken away from her Ginny like that? He remembered how happy Ginny and Harry seemed together.

_I hope you can hear me_

_I remember it clearly_

_"Have you seen Remus?" Tonks called after him._

_"He was dueling Dolohov," shouted Aberforth, "haven't seen him since!"_

_"Tonks," said Ginny, "Tonks, I'm sure he's okay-"_

_But Tonks had tun off into the dust after Aberforth._

_Ginny turned, helpless, to Harry, Ron, and Hermione._

_"They'll be all right," said Harry, though he knew they were empty words. "Ginny, we'll be back in a moment, just stay out of the way, keep safe!"_

- - - -

_"You actually _are_ joking, Perce . . .I don't think I've ever heard you joke since you were-"_

_The air exploded. They had been grouped together . . .and in that fragment of a moment__ when danger seemed temporarily at bay, the world was rent apart. The world resolved itself into pain and semidarkness as screams and yells filled the air._

_Hermione was struggling to her feet in the wreckage, and the three redheaded men were grouped on the ground where the wall had been blasted apart._

_"No-no-no!" someone was shouting. "No! Fred! No!"_

_And Percy was shaking his brother, and Ron was kneeling beside them, and Fred's eyes stared without seeing, the ghost of his last laugh still etched upon his face._

- - - -

_"Avada Kedavra!"_

_"Expelliarmus!"_

_The bang was like a cannon blast, and the golden flames that erupted between them, at the dead center of the circle they had been treading, marked the point where the spells collided. _

_The Great Hall came to a stand still, no one moved, no one dared to breathe. One shivering second of silence, the shock of the moment suspended: and then Ginny shouted in horror, "NO! Harry! HARRY!"_

_That's all it took to break the invisible spell of silence. People erupted all around the Hall with shouts that Voldemort was dead__-__that Harry too was dead._

_Ginny ran forward, collapsing beside Harry, screaming at the top of her lungs, "No! HARRY!"_

_The day you slipped away_

_Was the day I found it won't be the same_

_oh_

Ginny had never realized how much she really loved both Fred and Harry, until reality took a bite from her and she knew she's never see them again.

Molly never realized how much she would wish she could hear her twins Apparating from room to room, and making jokes. She never saw just how much shee regarded Harry as her own son.

George never thought he would have to be apart from his brother. It seemed so unreal. It was all like a nightmare he was struggling to wake from. He never thought he could be alive, yet feel dead inside.

Ron had never imagined life without his brother. He always thought they'd both be around to make him laugh, to send stuff from their shop on his birthday or on Christmas. He never imagined life without Harry and Hermione both by his side. Even if they would have their fair share of fights, he never thought he wouldn't be able to see one of them again.

The numb hollow feeling that came with loosing a loved one crept up on Hermione. The first person who had ever been nice to her was Harry. Harry saw past her puffy hair, and her knack at learning and reading. Harry and Ron had been her first true friends. She thought they'd always be there for her. She had always loved Harry like and older brother -and now she could never tell him that.

As reality sunk into them all, they all secretly wished they would wake up from this horrible nightmare. They didn't see why it had to be this way. Wasn't loving someone enough reason to keep them alive?

The truth hit like a rock smashing through the calm surface of a pond.

_I had my wake up_

_Won't you wake up_

_I keep asking why_

At the very back of the Hall, three people walked in and lingered behind the crowd in the entrance, hidden by the shadows. The Malfoy family had come to respectfully pay tribute to the person who had saved their son. No matter how much they had loathed each other, they could not deny the fact that Harry was a great man, who saved Draco's life, no mater how much he may have hated him.

_Malfoy saw him coming and raised one arm, but was too heavy and Malfoy's hand, covered in sweat, slid instantly out of Harry's-_

_"IF WE DIE FOR THEM, I'LL KILL YOU, HARRY!" roared Ron's voice, and, as a great chimera bore down upon them, he and Hermione dragged Goyle onto their broom and rose, rolling and pitching, into the air once more as Malfoy clambered up behind Harry._

Draco would never forget that.

_I can't take it_

_It wasn't fake_

_It happened you passed by_

They held a moment of silence in respect to the four. And as people got up to leave, Ginny once again approached Harry's coffin. "Good-bye," she whispered.

_Now you're gone, now you're gone_

_There you go, there you go_

_Somewhere I can't bring you back_

"I love you, I always will," she said, and, with one last look at Harry's pictures, moved on to say the rest of her good-byes.

Molly bent over Harry's coffin and whispered, "Thank you for everything, Harry. Without you, I wouldn't have Arthur or Ginny." She moved along and said more soft words. Then she touched Fred's coffin with her hand. "I'll miss you. I love you so much."

_Now you're gone, now you're gone_

_There you go, there you go_

_Somewhere I can't bring you back_

_The day you slipped away_

_Was the day I found it won't be the same_

The Weasley family and Hermione were the last of the people to leave the Great Hall. People all around them offered their condolences, and passed hugs all around. But they heard no word anyone said. They nodded and kept moving forward. They had to keep moving forward. Fred, Tonks, Lupin, and Harry hadn't given their lives for their friends and family to grieve; they fought so that they could move on and live safe, happy lives.

And even though they were gone from the world, they weren't gone from everyone's hearts and memories. They would continue to live on through the ones that love and believe in them. And as long as they stay safe and happy, the four fallen warriors would not have died in vain or for no reason. They would have died for a cause. A great cause.

_I miss you_


End file.
